Chapter 275: Pearly Gladiator

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.

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14 November 1994, Rome, Italy

Daphne Greengrass was not particularly happy to be in Rome. The Italian Arcane Academy was beautiful in its own militarized way, but it wasn't something that she particularly liked. She could understand why Blaise didn't regret coming to Hogwarts. He definitely wouldn't have been comfortable in this place. He was more of a laid-back person, who appreciated art and subtlety, not the straightforward warriors that the Accademia Arcana Italia liked to graduate.

References to Ancient Rome seemed to have sprung up everywhere. To be fair, the Roman Empire was huge and really powerful, but there was such a thing as living in the past… As Daphne walked around the corridors to their version of the Great Hall, she could see countless decorations and artefacts that only emphasized the school's obsession with its historical roots. Marble busts of famous Roman magicians and military leaders lined the hallways, each set on a pedestal that bore inscriptions of their most notable magical feats and battles. Mosaics depicting epic magical battles covered the floors, so intricate and detailed that Daphne felt as if she could hear the clash of swords and the chants of spells under her feet.

Tapestries hung from the walls, illustrating scenes from the Roman magical pantheon, vibrant yet fierce with depictions of gods and goddesses wielding thunderbolts and swords alongside wands and staffs. Every corner seemed to hold a shield or a suit of armour, as if ready for a spectral centurion to step out and march to battle. Even the lighting was dramatic, with torches encased in sconces that bore the faces of lions and eagles, casting eerie shadows that danced along the walls.

Alright, maybe she was biased since McGonagall had refused to let her go back to Hogwarts until the third task. She saw no true reason to stay… Harry wasn't competing, and neither was she. To make things worse, Astoria's condition was getting worse according to Tracy. The bracelet that Daphne had made was becoming less effective over time as the blood curse slowly adapted to the enchantments imbued within it.

Her new mentor had said that it was an eventuality anyway since Blood Magic is notorious in being backed by the very magic itself. There was a reason why people couldn't just dispel blood magic easily, and that was one of its properties. It made far more sense why her father had given up so quickly and that no healer could really help Astoria… Anything they could come up with would be barely useful for a few months at the most. It was a lot of resources for very few results, and healers just hadn't seen the point. Well, she expected that they had asked for a small fortune for each temporary counter-curse, and that would have quickly bankrupted the Greengrass family.

Still, Daphne would have preferred trying to find another counter-curse to help Astoria a bit more. Even if it was temporary, Astoria was well worth the investment. Unfortunately, without her sister being around her, Daphne couldn't really do anything, and that was maddening, especially since she was literally doing nothing of real importance in Italy.

In another life, she would have loved just walking through the streets of Rome with Harry, but time was ticking, and Astoria came before her non-existent love life. The only upside she had was in the form of her mentor, who happened to be Harry's mother.

It did explain a lot, especially about Harry's behaviour in Beauxbatons. He had obviously found out about her still being alive and was processing the information. The last Potter was a genius in many things, but when it came to emotions and relationships, he was as thick as a brick. She liked that about him… There was this innocence to him that was completely at odds with his capability that just endeared her, even if she wanted to punch him in the face sometimes…

The fact that he had tried to stop her blood magic lesson made a lot more sense when he knew for a fact that Lily Potter had killed her own husband and used a ritual that wiped out an entire village from the map, taking thousands of lives in the process.

This little fact made her more cautious around the redhead, but she couldn't stop her lessons. It was a risk that she was more than willing to take for the sake of her sister…

Thankfully, the redhead was completely professional during their lessons, which had taught her more than all her personal research on blood curses in the previous few years.

All in all, she would have rather been with her mentor, Harry, and Astoria at the same place. That would have been the perfect scenario. And since she would not see Astoria for months, Daphne was righteously grumpy about her situation.

When they entered the Great Hall, Daphne couldn't suppress her snort. The vast room was like stepping into a Roman legion's encampment reimagined for a magical era. Shields and banners adorned the walls, each emblazoned with the symbols of ancient Romans. The tables were arranged in a strict, orderly fashion reminiscent of a military mess hall, with seats positioned precisely two feet apart, enforcing a sense of discipline even during meals.

At the front of the hall, instead of the usual welcoming warmth of a headmaster's podium, there stood a raised dais with a commanding lectern fashioned from iron and stone, giving the impression that orders were to be issued here rather than gentle guidance or scholarly discourse. Above, the enchanted ceiling, instead of mirroring the sky outside as in Hogwarts, displayed a relentless panorama of Roman conquests, complete with spectral images of centurions on horseback charging into battle.

Everywhere she looked, Daphne saw reminders of a glorious and fierce past that the Accademia Arcana Italia seemed determined not just to remember, but to emulate.

She hated it with a passion.

To her, magic was more than just some militaristic tool. Magic was art, it was beauty in the form of change… And a school was more than just a place of discipline and classes, it was a place to make friends, to pursue individual interests…

Italy was the birthplace of so many wonderful things. From the Renaissance masterpieces that still awe the world to the intricate melodies that dance through its opera houses, Italy has long been a cradle of artistic brilliance. In terms of magical development, Italy's contribution was equally profound, particularly in the fusion of art and magic.

And yet, none of that was really shown in this school. It seemed like a waste, to solely focus on the military aspect, with a focus on Ancient Rome, instead of the rest of the nation's rich history and magic. It just felt wrong, and from the way Harry was frowning, he felt the same way…

As they waited for the rest of the delegations to arrive, Daphne decided to prepare for her next lesson with Harry's mother. Lily Potter might be a murderous bitch, but she knew her stuff and was more than a harsh taskmaster. They still hadn't done any practical magic, especially because of the high risk of injury from even the most basic blood magic spells, but they were getting close to it, a fact that the blonde was looking forward to.

Daphne sat at the table designated for the Hogwarts delegation. As she expected, Harry just took out his book and ignored everything else. As frustrated as Daphne was with this behaviour, it wasn't exactly something new. This always happened when he discovered something new or decided to explore a new field. To be perfectly fair, she had no clue how he was learning Alchemy of all things so quickly. Honestly, his progress was insane… He didn't really spend as much time researching as he did using spells... It was like the research was already done for him, somehow.

Flamel's book must have been amazing for Harry to make so much progress at once. Seriously, Daphne knew that transmutation was something that took NEWT students months to cast any simple spell with. Harry picked it up in an afternoon.

Yes, she had forgotten how bullshit Harry could be. Still, it was nice to see him learn something new… It had been a while since she had seen him genuinely excited about something.

Daphne's train of thought was interrupted when Angelina Johnson tapped her shoulder. She tilted her head in confusion, and the Gryffindor waved her wand to cast a privacy charm around them.

"What is it, Johnson?" the blonde asked.

"You need to convince Potter to compete…"

"We don't even know what the task is."

The dark-skinned girl didn't look amused, "We don't need to. Look, I get that you want to protect your boyfriend or whatever, but you know that he has put a target on all our backs with what happened in the first task. I'm not saying that it's his fault, but let's be honest here, the task is probably going to involve a lot of fighting considering how this place looks. Unfortunately, in a straight fight, we'll get massacred…"

Daphne raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "I don't see how that's our problem, Johnson. I don't see you going after Longbottom or Granger to join…"

"Don't be clever. I don't know what the fuck your boyfriend drinks to make him so insanely strong, but the truth is that we would have probably lost the last task without him. I know that Cedric thinks that we'll win with the power of teamwork, or whatever, but we need Potter…"

"Look, Harry doesn't want to compete and there's nothing that's going to change his mind unless he gets something he likes in return. And believe me, you'll need something big to make that happen. The truth is that he doesn't really like the prospect of competing. He only joined the delegation as a favour to his guardian, and he only entered the first task because he wanted Flamel's Diary."

The Gryffindor looked dejected at her response… Daphne didn't know what the older girl expected but she decided to throw her a bone, "You know, I'll deny it if you say anything, but you should try getting Granger to join… I think she'll surprise you."

Johnson looked like she wanted to say something, only to be interrupted by the headmaster standing up, "Welcome, delegates and future champions, to the second task of the European School tournament. I hope that your stay here will be constructive and that you'll take advantage of our educational resources accordingly. I'm sure you're all hungry, but before the feast, I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, the second task will take place a week from now, on the twenty-first of November. Each school will present three champions, who will fight in a team against the champions of the other schools. The last team standing will win the task."

Well, that seemed easy enough. It was a rather unimpressive task, to be perfectly honest… Just a glorified Gladiator fight.

The headmaster continued, "However, this will not be your only task… Because in the same arena, there will be seven different yet dangerous magical creatures, each with a small key attached to their person. Retrieving a key will not only allow an extra champion to enter the task, but will open a chest after the task, which will have very prestigious prizes and even clues for your next task. Let me be perfectly clear, you are at most to grab the key from the beasts, you are not allowed, in any way, to kill or harm them in any permanent manner. Doing so will disqualify you from the task, and may result in severe fines… Finally, the task will only end if only the members of a single team remain. If you have any questions regarding the task, feel free to come see me or the ICW organizers. Welcome to the Accademia Arcana Italia, and I hope you enjoy your stay here…"

And just like that, the food materialized in front of them, and the feast began. Well, that was a nice twist of events… The champions will have to either try to go for the win or go after the magical creatures for the keys. There weren't mentions of normal prizes for just winning, so it's a test between wanting the prizes or winning. And that's not to mention that they could win up to seven chests…

Well, that was a surprisingly interesting task… A gladiator match with magical creatures acting as a chaotic element. Now, that's a nice way to guarantee some entertainment.

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AN: I'll be honest, I was tempted not to write anything today. I'm kinda sick and almost spent the whole day in bed... Anyway, I wanted to develop Daphne's character a bit since she's been a bit stale during this entire story and saw this as a chance to do it. As usual, let me know what you think and if you have any recommendations.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.